Special textile-fabric package



uy' l 1924.

L. MARX SPECIAL TEXTILE FABRIC PACKAGE Filed Deo. 1B, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 1 /N VENTO/e Huff/V65 hm( TTORNE V5 my 1, 1924. www@ L.MARX SPECIAL TEXTILE FABRIC PACKAGE Filed Dec. 18 1922 2 Shees-Sheet 2/N VENTO/e Huff/mf MAPA w Waff wflw A TTORNEY Patented July l, i924.

till??? it* i l la 1 OFFICE.,

LAURENCE MARX, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO COHN-HALL-MARXC0., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION F NEW YORK.

SPECIAL TEXTILE-FABRIC PACKGE.

To all lwlw/ml t may concern:

Be it known that I, LAURENCE MARX, a citizen of the United States, andresident of New Rochelle, in the county of Westches- 5 ter, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SpecialTextile-Fabric Packages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a said package and method of packing,distributing and vending merchandise and especially textiles such asshirtings, dress oodsand other fabrics which are made an sold'in a greatvariety of styles, colors, grades or patterns.

Full size rolls or bolts of fabrics as produced at the mills, inaccordance with the present method of distribution, are shipped todistributors or jobbers. The larger retail merchants order the fabricsfrom the jobbers in whole bolts and the volume of their business justiies the large investment necessary for the purchase of a suitableassort ment of these long pieces. Considerable loss is involved in thehandling of the bolts since there is no adequate or convenient way ofkeeping the fabrics clean and they frequently become soiled, especiallyat the edges, in the repeated handling of the bolt as the material issold in short pieces. The last few yards 3o wound close to thecloth-board are also usually very much crumpled or wrinkled and presenta bad appearance even when clean. For these and other reasons a largenumber of ends or remnants accumulate which must be sold at reducedprices. The smaller retail merchants on account of the smaller volume oftheir business may buy a certain number of fullipiecesV but are notjustified in the large investment required for a large assortment of thefull pieces, and for this reason, especially in the more expensivefabrics, they frequently order short pieces Say from l0 to 20 yards, andthe jobber or other distributor is required to take of from the bolts,measure and cut and reroll these short pieces with considerable risk ofsoiling or mussing them, and with a large labor cost and other overheadcharges. rlhe handling of these small pieces or bolts by the retailerinvolves the same difficulties as in the case of the large bolts exceptfor the smaller investment involved. The small pieces frequentl becomesoiled, remnants accumulate -and osses are involved as in the case ofthe larger merchants handling full bolts. Heretofore no satisfactorymeans or method has been proposed or adopted so far as l am aware toovercome the above and other diiiiculties and disadvantages in thepresent method of distribution, and sale of fabrics. My inventionrovides a method which overcomesathese ifiiculties and has additionaland noyel advantages as hereinafter set forth.

The general object of the invention is to provide a suitable package anda method by which a retail merchant may be furnished with a desirablevariety of fabrics of a certain class so that he is enabled to suit thepreferences of his customers without carrying in stock a correspondingnumber of full sized bolts of the fabric. Another object is to provide apackage and a method which are adaptable to the direct supply of retaildealers and is equally adaptable to distribution through jobbers orwholesalers, and is in general adapted or adaptable to the pres enttrade customs in the textile industries.

To attain these and other objects the invention method comprises, inbrief, the folding or rolling of textile fabrics, for example, shirtingsor dress goods in small rolls or bolts, each bolt usually consisting ofa piece much shorter than the full bolt length and the length of thepiece usually being calcu-. lated to provide a predetermined number ofdress or shirt patterns The small bolts are preferably thinand fiat sothat they may e piled compactly :in flatwise relation. When desired, acloth board, usually thinner than the ordinary board, may be used as acenter for the small bolt, or this may be omitted.

A suitable number of the small pieces or bolts, usually of differentpatterns or grades to provide a desirable assortment, are placedtogether fiatwise forming a rectangular pile, and this pile of bolts isenclosed in a suitable container which is usually a display contain` eradapted when closed to completely cover and protect the goods from dustor dirt and also adapted to be readily opened to display the goods andusually having a movable cover and a drop front so that the containercan be quickly and easily thrown open to display the goods to customers.vA num'ber of the containers, each enclosing a plurality of bolts, maybe acked and shipped in one case, but more esirably each containerfilled as described is placed in an individual shipping case or cartonin-which it is shipped direct to the retailer, or a plurality of `theindividual packages Y are shipped to a wholesaler for distribution byhim to retailers without the necessity for opening the containers whenthey are suitably marked toA indicate the nature of the contents.

In this way a retail dealer, and especially one doing a small business,is enabled to place before his customers a variety of goods which may beequal to that displayed in the larger stores without the necessity fora. large investment in full bolts or pieces of fabric, and loss andinconvenience resulting from soiling and the accumulation of rem- Eaitends incident to the handling of full o ts.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are furthersuliiciently explained in connection with a detail description of themethod with reference to the accompanying explanatory drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of suitable blanks for the production ofan inner or display container in one form suitable for the presentmethod.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container body.

Figure 3 is a cross section of the complete container properly filledwith goods and opened for display.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the saine.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the container closed.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of an outer container or shipping caseopen to receive an inner container.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the same closed and sealed.

Figure 8 is a section at 8-8, Figure 7.

Figure 4 shows a plurality of relatively short pieces of fabric, such asshirting, of different designs or patterns arranged in liat rolls orbolts B, these bolts being piled llatwise together and enclosed in asuitable display container C. The bolts may or may not be formed uponboard centers b. When such boards7 are used they may be thinner thanboards used for standard bolts. The material and design or constructionof the container may vary greatly, but in a desired i form it comprisesa main or body part 1 having a bottom 2, end walls 3, narrow front Walls4, (which may be omitted in some cases), and a back wall 5, and havingan open top and also having the main front portion open between theinward edges of the short front Wall 4. A top cover 6 is hingedlyconnected at the upper edge of the back wall 5 and desirably this topcover has a front flange 7 and end flanges 8. The front cover 9 ishingedly connected to the fron-t edge of the bottom 2, this front coverbeing arranged to fold up and close the front opening and to be securedby the front flange 7 of the top cover 6 as shown in Fig. 5. Desirablythe short pieces or bolts are secured in the container or tied togetherwith ribbons or tapes 10 although these may be omitted in some cases.

In one particular embodiment, the container may be of cardor liber-boardof suitable grade and stiffness, and as shown in Fig. 1 the material foreach container may be cut in the form of three originally separateblanks one of which includes the top-cover 6 with its flanges or flaps 7and 8, another the bottom 2, back 5, endsv 3 and front wall members 4,and the other'blank constitutes the front wall 9; otherwise the blankmay be originally cut as a unit and the parts then separated as alsosufficiently indicated in Fig. 1. The back wall portion 5 may haveskived or beveled end flaps 5tt which are folded and adhesivelyconnected to end walls 3 when blank-section 1 is set up as shown in Fig.2, producing substantially smooth inner end Wall surfaces. The top coveris then hingedly connected to back Wall 5, conveniently by means ofstrips 6a of fabric or paper,'and the front wall 9 is connected to thefront edge of bottom 2 by similar hinge strips 9a. When desired, any orall of the outer or inner surfaces of the container may be covered withfabric or paper of suitable grade and finish, to strengthen thestructure or for decorative effect. Straps or tapes 25 may be providedto support top 6 in open position.

When the container is closed, as shown in Fig. 5, the contents arecompletely covered and protected from soiling or other damage. A numberof these filled containers may be packed and shipped together withoutindividual coverings; but more desirably each filler container with itsvaried assortment of fabrics is placed in an outer container or shippingcase S, Figures 6 to 8. These cases or cartons may vary greatly inconstruction but in one desirable form they may be of corrugated boardas shown, arranged to open along one side or at one end, andspecifically, as shown in the present example, the carton is provided atone end with pairs of opposite foldable flaps 15 and 16 which larefolded down after the inner container is inserted and secured in anysuitable way, conveniently by means of strips of adhesive paper 17 andthe carton may also be reinforced at other points or along other edgesby additional adhesive strips such as 18 and 19. The shipping casereinforces and protects the inner container and especially prevents anysoiling of the inner container which would render it unsuitable fordisplay in the retail shop.

A label such as 20 may be placed on the outside of the shipping casewhen desired and this label; may be suitably marked to ages, containingany desired number of different goods assortments, is furnished towholesalers or obbers, and when, as 1s preferred, each o the innercontainers is enclosed in an outer container or shipping case S, itisunnecessary for the jobber to open the outer case orto otherwise handlethe goods, but the packages may be handled and reship-ped as units tothe retall dealer on his order without any possibility of soiling thefabrics while they are in the hands of the jobberand with a mimimumhandling cost.

When one or more of Ithe units is received by the retailer the outercontainer is quickly and easily opened and the inner container with itscontents may be placed on a shelf closed, or'it maybe placed on a shelfwith the front side outward, with the ltop cover 6 closed and with thefront cover 9 dro ped to disclosethe edges yof all the bol-ts forselection by purchasers, or the container may be placed on a counter orshow-case top with the top cover 6 thrown back and the front coverdropped as shown in Figure 4.

One piece or bolt at a time may be easily slipped out from the pile ofbolts B without disturbing the others, and for that purpose the narrowfront lwalls 4 when provided are made outwardly bendable, and when apiece has been cut of the bolt may' be easily slipped back into the pileor placed on top. The assortment of fabrics is displayed in such a waythat customers may easily make a selection without the necessity formuch or any handling and soiling of the goods, and in addition thedescribed method of arranging the assortment in display boxes permits amore attractive exhibition of the goods and permits morevvarieties yoffabrics to be displayed in reasonable space. and for a smallerinvestment than has heretofore been possible.

When a number of the display containers are placed on view in the storethey may be easily closed in a very short time, for instance, when thestore is being put in order for the night, by simply turning up thefront covers and dropping the top covers in place, and the goods arethen completely protected fro-m any damage until it is desired to againdisplay them.

The retail merchant and especially' the small dealer, is therefore ablefor a given expenditure to place before his customers a much greatervariety of fabrics than has Yheretofore been possible, and he is alsorelieved to a great extent from losses on account of soiling, crumpling,ends and remnants and in fact all the disadvantages of the presentmethods, pointed out above, are avoided.

The disadvantages to the jobber involved in established methods as alsoabove pointed out, are avoided, with accompanying positive advantagesalso suliiciently explained above, and the importance of the inventionto jobbers 'is emphasized by the fact that the majority of jobberscustomers are small retailers so that the bulk of the jobbers output maybe handled in accordance with the invention method, with correspondingprofits and advantages.

The invention' is of great advantage to individual consumers, for itenables those who have access only to smaller retailers to select from amuch greater variety of fabrics, and this in turn tends to retain localpatronage for the small dealer.

l claim:

1. A textile fabric package comprising a' plurality of lengths of fabriceach much shorter than the conventional bolt, each length Ifolded into arectangular bolt of fabric, the respective bolts of fabric differingfron one another to provide a varied assortment and the bolts beingpiled one upon another to form a packagev of a size easily handled, anda dust proof casing normally enclosing and snugly fitting around thepile of bolts in which the latter are arranged lengthwise, said casinghaving a movable wall whereby when the same is moved to open position alongitudinal edge.

of each bolt of the pile of bolts will be exposed so that all of thefabrics may be readily inspected and a selection made and the selectedbolt removed without removing the other bolts of the pile and wherebysaid movable wall may then be moved to closed position to protect theremaining bolts. I

2. A textile fabric package comprising a plurality of lengths of fabriceach much shorter than the conventional bolt, eachY length folded into arectan lar bolt of fabric, the respective bolts o fabric differing fromone another to provide a varied assortment and the bolts being piled oneupon another to form a package of a size easily handled, and a d ustproof casing normally enclosing and snugly fitting around the pile ofbolts, in which the latter are arran ed lengthwise, said casing having amovab e wall whereby when the same is moved to open position alongitudinal edge of each bolt of the pile of bolts will be exposed sothat all of the fabrics may be readily lnspected and a selection madeand the 'selected bolt removed without removing the other bolts of thepile and whereby said movable wall may then be moved to closed positionto protect the remaining bolts, and a removable outer container of stoutmaterial securely enclosing the display receptacle and its contents andadapted to protect the reoeptable and contents in-shipment.

3. A special package for displaying and merchandising fabrics put up inbolts of relatively short fabric lengths, affording a varied assortmentof fabrics in compact and easily handled form, said package consistingof a relatively long and narrow receptacle of substantially theilengthand width, and of a height adapted to contain a plurality of thin bolts,said receptacle containing a plurality of superposed short length boltsof -assorted textile fabrics arranged lengthwise therein, saidreceptacle having a closure member adapted to be moved to exposelongitudinal edges of the said superposed bolts, and to provide anopening through which the bolts may be removed and replaced as desired,and also adapted when closed to protect the fabrics from soiling, theconstruction and arrangement being such that the entire package may ybeeasily handled and moved from shelf to message@x Aarranged lengthwise,and closure means for the casing operable from a closed to an openposition. and when in the latter position exposing an endmost bolt ofthegroup and also exposing longitudinal edges of all the bolts, so thatall of the fabrics may be readily inspected and a selection made and theselected bolt removed Without removing the other bolts and whereby saidclosure means may then be moved to closed position to protect the bolts.

5. A textile fabric package comprising a plurality of lengths of fabric,each fabriclength being much shorter than that of the conventional bolt,each length folded into a rectangular, flat bolt of fabric, therespective bolts of fabric differing from one another to provide avaried assortment and the bolts being arranged in flatwise contact toform a group of a size easily handled, and a display casing normallyenclosin and snugly fitting around the pile of bo ts in which the latterare arranged lengthwise, the casing being constructed to displaylongitudinal edges of the bolts and having a closure operable to permitremoval of a selected bolt.

Signed at city of New York in the county of New York and State of NewYork this 9th day of December, A. D. 1922.

A LAURENCE MARX.

